2017 – Insights

You can read a very articulate and informative article on the astrology of 2017 “Truth or Dare: Major transits of 2017” by Jessica Murray in The Mountain Astrologer Magazine for February/March 2017.

Chances are, if you know my work you have the sense that I am more of a navigator than a predictor. I think astrology is an amazing tool to help us deal with our circumstances, whatever they are. Anticipating what those circumstances might be does lend itself to prediction, however. No getting around that.

Here are two things that might be true:

One is that fate is the past; it’s our conditioning, the things that happened to us that we can’t change. And destiny is the future; it lives out there like shoes waiting to be filled but in fact, there is no guarantee about what it will be. Only from the present can we navigate the tremendous forces of conditioning, which incline us to repeat patterns, as well as the seductive power of future possibilities, which incline us toward dissatisfaction with the present.

The other thing is that we do not create reality; we participate in it. Reality, or what we call it, is a tapestry created by our ancestors, our politicians, our parents and friends, everyone we ever met and some we haven’t ever met, not to mention all those people in the movies. As well as us. We are all dancing in the intricate weave of this tapestry and imagining you can control it is a painful delusion.

In that spirit I offer you some astrological insights for 2017. Below is a list of astrological events and some commentary of what kinds of energies we might expect. How you navigate it depends on your chart, your courage and determination and circumstance.

Astrological events for 2017

Stations: Stations intensify the energy of the planet for a week or more before and after. The degree of the stations will be sensitive for a while; usually until another planet ‘finishes it off’.

Jupiter stations: February 6, 2017; June 9, 2017: Be aware of your assumptions; they are not taking you where you think.Saturn stations: April 6, 2017, August 25, 2017: Be aware of the mire of circumstance and how you meet it. Can you deal with the real life circumstances you encounter with wisdom? The fierce kind.Uranus stations: December 29, 2016, August 3, 2017: It is impossible to expect the unexpected better to simply live what is given with a beginner’s mind.Neptune stations: June 16, 2017, November 22, 2017: If you were drowning you would be better off relaxing into a float rather than swimming hard and wearing yourself out. There is wisdom in this, especially when we are troubled by our unrequited longings.Pluto stations: April 20, 2017, September 28, 2017: Intense focus (also known as obsession) is a real drag on our quality of life unless we have a goal to transform the world, and harm none.

Planetary interactions: These are where themes and events are found; the meat and potatoes of events. The themes of the transits are there from the first hit to the last, although strongest around the dates of the exact aspect.

Jupiter Saturn; December, 3, 2016, August 27, 2017: Jupiter will sextile Saturn. This is opportunity. We might ask, ‘For whom?’: Jupiter is the voice of reason and justice while in Libra. Saturn is about fierce wisdom. I don’t mean terror although there is always that possibility these days. I mean more of compassion that has nothing to do with pity.

Jupiter Uranus: December 26, 2016; March 2, 2017, September 27, 2017: This is an opposition. Opposition always implies a debate or confrontation. Uranus in Aries is tired of waiting. Jupiter in Libra is into keeping the peace. Uranus doesn’t care if peace falls to pieces.

Jupiter Neptune; May 17, 2017, July 4, 2017 (October 23, 2016): This will be an inconjunct; a minor aspect but interesting because they are each making stations in this relationship with each other. Inconjuncts are supposed to be about accidents and/or illnesses. I think of them like a bad case of hiccups. I think we can expect a lot of dissembling, confusion and disorientation. We have to be careful not to grab onto the scripts of various confused people and turn them into scripture. Better to navigate confusion than to hold onto nothing.

Jupiter (Scorpio) trine Neptune; December 2, 2017: This isn’t until the end of the year when Jupiter changes signs. It may sort out the confusion of the spring and summer. It’s a real boon for trusting feelings. Who knows, it may even be a boon for healing the actual guts of people.

Jupiter Pluto: December 24, 2016; March 30, 2017, August 4, 2017: This is a square and it suggests a rock and a hard place between truth and power. No great mystery to this transit. If we can navigate without caving into fear it could be an amazing transformation. We can’t deny fear but we shouldn’t let it determine our actions.

Saturn trine Uranus: December 25th, 2016; May 19, 2017, November 11, 2017: Trines are generally seen to be good; an indication that the planets are supporting each other. Saturn is circumstance and it’s expression in 2017 is about circumstance in a time when the fierce wisdom of the feminine is required. Uranus is about rebellion, revolution, change and chaos. It seems to me that in an ideal world (not the one we inhabit I guess) we would be making change in the world with a kind of wisdom behind the changes. Surely there are many people who see the necessity and possibility of this. They are the ones we want to support; even if it gets dicey.

Mercury and Venus Retrograde

Venus retrograde Venus retrogrades opposite the degree of Jupiter’s station in May, and it goes direct squaring Saturn. Jupiter and Saturn are a pair. You could say Jupiter is the wisdom we get from Saturn’s experience. Jupiter is expansive and Saturn contracts. Venus ties them together with a look at what things are worth. Why bother? What’s worth having, making the effort for. Opposite Jupiter is a challenge, square Saturn is a block.Station Retrograde: March 04, 2017 Conjunction with the Sun: March 25Station Direct: April 15, 2017
I will be leading a workshop on this event which will be a way to participate in the cosmic picture. You can see more about it here.

Retrograde December 3, 2017Direct December 22, 2017.
Conjunct the Sun December 13, 2017

Eclipse dates: (L: lunar (full Moon) (S: solar (new Moon)
Feb. 10, 2017 22 L
Feb. 26, 2017 08 S Lots of water.
Aug. 07, 2017 L
Aug. 21, 2017 S. This is the one that astrologers are all in a tizzy about. It divides the USA in half, starting in Oregon, ending in South Carolina. They say that last time this happened was the US Civil War. It also falls strongly in Trump’s chart. Shortly after the eclipse, Mars who likes a good fight, crosses the same degree. Uranus is trine it which adds fuel to the fire of passionate change.

Mars hot spots.In Aries and Cancer it will activate Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto: February 18 – March 8, 2017: June 21, – July 19, 2017: Mars is a difficult planet to manage. It definitely rules war and terror but/and it is also very necessary for birth of any kind. We are all called upon in these difficult times to manage our Mars reactions (aggression) with an eye to what we would like to give birth to: really!

It will activate the Jupiter Neptune inconjunct May 7 –May 15, 2017: Same as above but in this case it’s about information: what we do with it and how we use it as a tool for birth or destruction. A great book or presentation by a leader would be something to expect here. Keeping it from being manipulated or diluted will be the challenge.

In Leo it will activate the eclipse and the Saturn Uranus trines to that degree: August 12, – September 4, 2017: This one makes me nervous. Eclipses are unpredictable and the symbol of loss of heart or reason. Having Mars step into the situation ups the anti regarding aggression. But it also could be about asserting ourselves from the heart, for the good of all. We just have to remember that.

In Libra it will activate Saturn, Uranus and Pluto (but not Jupiter) November 18 – December 8, 2017: The potential for negotiation is strong here as well as passive/aggressive two-stepping.

Ingresses: (outer planets changing signs)

Jupiter enters Scorpio: October 10, 2017
Saturn enters Capricorn December 19, 2017Each of these ingresses happen at the end of 2017 and will be more about 2018 and take us to 2020 which is the next major astrological year. It will be time for a different kind of honesty; the kind that comes from reality as it presents itself. I think of Leonard Cohen’s song: The Future. Love’s the only engine of survival.